Casual Dining Group (CDG), one of the UK’s largest independent restaurant companies, has taken home Springboard’s Best Career Progression award in recognition of its industry leading learning and development programmes.
The award coincided with the launch of CDG’s second cohort of participants for its ‘Elevate’ programme. The ‘Elevate’ course, which is run in partnership with Profitably Engage, targets high-performing General Managers within the business that are looking to progress to multi-site leaders.
Over the period of a year, 14 employees undertake an extensive training programme, split into three modules, which provide insights into areas of the business they may not get exposure to. Before its completion, the first cohort of ‘Elevate’ participants has already proved a success, with two participants receiving a promotion to Operations Manager, and another on secondment position within the Support Centre.
In addition, the company’s ‘Future Leaders’ programme, a three-month development course available to all high performing Assistant and Deputy Managers, giving them the skills needed to step up to General Managers, has also delivered positive results.
Over the last 12 months, 29 participants have graduated the course, completing operationally-led briefs to enhance their skills and knowledge on leadership, time management, employee relations and financials. Out of those, 22 have already been promoted to General Manager.
Victoria Wreford, a participant on the ‘Elevate’ programme, who recently gained a successful promotion from General Manager to Operations Manager, said, “The Elevate programme has enabled me to take the next step in my career, by giving me the opportunity to work closely alongside my Operations Manager so that I can take up various responsibilities to gain a better understanding and insight of the role.
'It has made me a better leader, improved my influential and coaching skills, and allowed me to manage my time more effectively by focusing on what is important and what has a real impact on the business.”
Claire Clarke, Group HR Director, Casual Dining Group, added, “It is fantastic to receive this recognition, which is testament to the hard work across the business. We are commitment to developing our internal talent at all levels and these programmes have been carefully designed to provide our team members with the skills needed to take the next step in their career.
“There is a wealth of talent across the business – our role is to identify the stand out performers and give them the skills and training they need to become leaders and progress. We’re incredibly passionate about creating a culture of high performance, and impacting meaningful change through motivation, influence, coaching and building quality personal development programmes to drive performance. This is very much the start and we look forward to growing and evolving the courses.”